Philadelphia Construction Law Blog

Kaplin Stewart attorneys will be offering the second in their series of presentations on OSHA Regulations on July 25, 2013.  This presentation , entitled “Working at Heights: It’s Not By Your Grandfather’s Rules Anymore”, will focus on the rules governing scaffolds, ladders, tying off, and other rules and regulations governing work at varying elevations.  The program will run from 7:30-9:00 a.m. at Kaplin Stewart’s Blue Bell office and breakfast will be served.

Beginning May 7, 2013, all employers are required to use the newly released I-9 Form to verify employment eligibility for workers. Anyone using the form moving forward will be subject to penalties.

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill No. 1, a $2.5 billion transportation-funding bill. The bill may increase construction opportunities within the state, but its fate remains uncertain since some are concerned about the unknown increased cost to motorists and businesses with fleets of vehicles.

News reports in the last several hours indicate that a building at the corner of Market and 22nd Streets in Center City Philadelphia has collapsed and buried between 8-10 people.  There was construction work going on in the area, including demolition work to bring one of the buildings down.  It is assumed, but officially unknown, whether the demolition work was the cause of the building collapse.

In Pennsylvania, a contractor may recover damages by the enforcement of a mechanics lien or by quantum meruit for work performed even where the contractor’s written home improvement contract was invalid.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals held in January that President Obama’s 2010 recess appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was unconstitutional. In so doing, the Court concluded that valid recess appointments can only occur in intersession breaks of the Senate.

Several members of Kaplin Stewart’s construction law department were recently recognized for their representation of the firm’s construction clients. Robert Korn, and Andy Cohn were named as Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, while Mohammad Ghiasuddin was named a Rising Star. All 4 are part of the list published in Philadelphia Magazine and the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Magazine.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of a local business, Lehigh Valley Racket and Fitness Centers, and struck down a National Labor Relations Board rule requiring the posting of union organization posters at its workplace.  The decision comes on the heels of a prior ruling by the D.C. Circuit declaring President Obama’s “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board unconstitutional and marks another setback for the NLRB.

I reported in May of 2012 that Senator Lisa Boscola (D. – Lehigh) was leading the charge on a bill to immunize HVAC contractors from liability for mold. The bill stalled in the Judiciary Committee during the last session and never made it to the floor for a vote. Senator Boscola has not given up on the bill, however, and has reintroduced it in the 2013 session.

The issue of whether occurrence-based CGL policies provide coverage for property damage sustained as a result of faulty workmanship by contractors has been treated unevenly throughout the country. However, a recent decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals applying Pennsylvania law provided greater clarity on how occurrence-based policies are to be interpreted in the context of construction projects. The decision also left the door open to creative attorneys who may try to recover on such policies from a different angle though.